Kick sheet device



June 5, 1934. v H. c. ZENKE 1,961,724

KICK SHEET DEVICE Filed Jan. 6, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l June 5, 1934. H.c. ZENKE KICK SHEET DEVICE Filed Jan. 6, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYl ri O June 5, 1934.

H. C. ZENKE KICK SHEET DEVICE 5 Filed Jan. 6, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 w mj:

ATTORNEY Patented June 5, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 17 Claims.

The present invention relates to what is generally called a kick sheetdevice. Such a device serves the purpose of kicking or altering theposition of sheets or newspapers while the same are travelling inoverlapping position along a conveyor, the device operating periodicallyafter a given number of papers have passed a given point, so that thepaper which is kicked or shifted will indicate the count of the papers.For instance, if every fiftieth paper is kicked the kick sheets willindicate that there are fifty papers between successive kick sheets, orif the kick sheet device operates on every hundredth paper it willindicate that there are one hundred papers between successive kicksheets. Such devices are commonly used in newspaper establishments forconvenience in sorting newspapers and arranging them into separatelifts, each containing a stated number of papers, such as fifty or onehundred, in order that the operator, in the distributing room, will nothave to count the individual papers in order to arrange them in separatelifts and stacks.

Heretofore, the kicking of the sheets has been accomplished on theprinting press as the papers are delivered from the press and are aboutto be conveyed away by the conveyor toward the distributing room.

Where the papers are counted and kicked at the press the count is notalways accurate when the papers reach the distributing room because thepressman will often remove a paper to examine the distribution of ink onthe printed sheets and for other purposes, and he very often fails toreturn the removed papers to their proper group, so that when the papersreach the dis tributing room the number of papers between successivekick sheets is not always accurate.

Furthermore, disputes and difierences arise regarding the number ofpapers recorded as printed in the press room and the number accountedfor in the distributing room. The purpose of my present invention is toprovide a device which will count the papers and periodically kickindividual papers while they are travelling on the conveyor whichconveys the papers from the press to the distributing room, andpreferably at a point suificiently beyond the printing press to preventany inaccuracies due to the occasional removal of papers by thepressman. This permits the papers to be kicked to indicate the count ata location which will accurately determine the papers which are actuallydelivered to the distributing room.

In my co-pending application Serial No. 415,-

657 and filed December 21, 1929, I showed and described a mechanism forcounting the papers and for kicking individual papers periodically, thepurpose of that mechanism being similar in its broad aspect to thepresent application.

One object of the present invention is to provide a kick sheet devicewhich is so connected up with the driving mechanism of the newspaperconveyor as to provide for accurate synchroniza tion between theconveyor and the kick sheet device. This insures proper timing of thekick sheet device in relation to the movement of the papers on theconveyor and it also simplifies the problem of applying the operatingforce to the kick sheet device.

By synchronizing the operation of the kick sheet device with theconveyor, the former will operate faster or slower in exact accordancewith the speed at which the papers travel on the conveyor, which is adesirable feature because the speed or the papers on the conveyor is notalways uniform and it is desirable that the kick sheet device shouldmove in definite timed relation with the speed of the papers on theconveyor. Another advantage of this combination is that each kick sheetmay be moved the same extent in relation to the other papers on theconveyor so that the kicking of the sheets will be uniformnotwithstanding any variation in the speed of the papers on theconveyor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple kick sheet deviceoperating in synchronism with the conveyor, which may be located at anypoint along the path of the conveyor and permit power to be applied tothe kick sheet device from any portion of the conveyor operatingmechanism, thereby making the kick sheet device ap plicable at anylocation in relation to the conveyor. Furthermore, it is not necessaryto convey the operating force to the kick sheet device from a remotepoint.

Another object is to provide a kick sheet device which may be designedin a simple manner to kick the sheets to any desired extent.

Another object of the invention is to simplify the kick sheet device andto render it more positive and dependable in its operation. Anotherobject is to simplify the portion of the kick sheet device whichdirectly engages with the sheets to be kicked and to render itsoperation positive and dependable. These, as well as other objects willbe set forth in the following detailed description of my invention.

In the drawings forming part of this application,

Figure l is a view looking upwardly at the under side of a newspaperconveyor and at the kick sheet device embodying my invention in thepreferred form,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

'igure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 1,

Figure l is a sectional view through a portion of the kick sheet deviceillustrating the manner in which an individual paper is engaged duringthe kicking operation,

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3,

Figure 6 is a sectional vi w showing a detail of part of the conveyor,

Figure 7 is a sectional view showing details of the kick sheet device,

Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 1 but on a smaller scale andillustrating the movement of the kick sheet device and also showing theelectric circuits through which the counting device controls the kicksheet device, and

Figure 9 is a detailed view illustrating a portion of the countingdevice which may be used to control the kick sheet device.

In my co-pending application above referred to I have shown a completeapparatus including the device for counting the individual sheets asthey travel along the newspaper conveyor, together with the device forkicking the sheets. The present invention relates more particularly tothe kick sheet device. While the present device may be actuated by anyform of counting device, I prefer to use in conjunction with the presentinvention a counting device similar to that shown in my said co-pendingapplication but without limiting the present invention to use with thatparticular type of counting device I have illustrated invention ascontrolled by the counting device shown in said co-pending case by wayof illustrating one method of operating the present apparatus. Crossreference may be made to my said co-pending case for a completedescription or" one form of counting device Which may be used with thepresent invention.

It is common practice to convey newspapers on conveyor extending from apoint adjacent the printing press to some remote point within thedistributing room in which latter location the papers are taken from theconveyor in groups or lifts of predetermined numbers and distributedaccording to some prearranged plan. These conveyors usually consist ofgrooved rollers over which travel endless belts generally of spiralspring formation, which belts engage opposite surfaces of theoverlapping papers for the purpose of carrying the papers from the pressto the distributing room.

In the drawings I have shown a portion of a common type of conveyor withwhich my present invention may be conveniently combined. The conveyorconsists of a number of rollers 1 arranged with their axes at rightangles to the path of travel or" the papers, these rollers beingprovided with peripheral grooves 2 and suitably mounted on shafts 3which have bearings in the framework of the conveyor. Such rollers aredistributed at intervals along the conveyor, both above and below theplane of the travelling papers, so that the papers pass between theupper and lower grooved rollers and between the several belts, i. e.,the upper and lower belts of the conveyor. There is a series of belts iusually endless, which travel around the several grooved rollers andengage in the grooves 2 thereof. Where the papers travel in a horizontalposition usually these belts are arranged only below the papers, whereaswhen the papers are travelling vertically or turning from the verticalinto the horizontal, similar belts are generally applied to the oppositeside of the plane of the papers, but as my invention is illustrated asapplied to the horizontal portion of a conveyor it is not necessary toshow the second set of conveyor belts although it will be understoodthat they may be used ii desired.

The power for operating the rollers and belts of the conveyor istransmitted to different portions of the conveyor by means of theendless chain 5 operating on suitable sprockets (not shown) for drivingsome of the grooved rollers 1. This chain is, therefore, part of thedriving mechanism of the conveyor, and preferably the power foroperating the kick sheet device is taken indirectly from this chain.

I have shown the chain as passing over sprocket wheel 6 which is mountedon a shai '7 extending transversely of the conveyor an suitablyjournaled at one end in a bracket 8 which is bolted or clamped upon oneof the horizontal rods 9, which is part of the supporting frame of theconveyor. There is a similar rod is disposed at the opposite side of theconveyor and com' sing part of the frame of the latter and the variousclamps 11 for supporting the bearings of the shafts 3 of the conveyor'iers l are mounted on these rods as well t-.e operating mechanism of mykicl sheet device. 2

for the purpose of applying to the shaft 7 the operating force for thekicl; sheet ce, have shown the chain travelling aro nd the idlersprocket 16 on one side of the larger sprocket 6 and also engagingaround the sprocket i? which is journaled in the bracket 18, th seidlers scrving to guide the chain partly aro id the sprocket 6 which ismounted on the si On one a d of the shaft 7 there is fixed a crank disc18 whi revolves with the shaft; and the pitrnan 15 extending lengthwiseof the conveyor is pivotally connected at one end with this crani at itsopposite end it is pivotaliy co: the lever arm 20. the pin 21 mounted ina clamp 22 vhicn is clamped upon the longitudinal rod in.

There is a pair of brackets and 24 clamped to the lon itudinal bar 9extending between and mounted in suitable hearings in these brackets areparallel guide rods or tracks 25 wl :1 form guiding members for thereciprocating carriage 27 which moves back forth in the direction of thelength of the conveyor. The lever arm 20 has a fork 28 at one end whichengages the screw 29 which is attached to the reciprocating carriage, sothat when the lever arm 2-0 i oscillated through the crank disc 18 andthe pitinan 19, reciprocating motion is transmitted to the carriage 27to cause it to reciprocate along the tracks 25, 26.

The bracket 24 I is provided with an extension 30 which forms a supportfor the device which co-operates with the travelling papers to count thelatter and to control the electric circuit which causes the kick sheetdevice to be operated in accordance with the number of papers passingthe kick sheet device. In my co-pending application I have shown acomplete device for counting the sheets and for effecting the operationof the kick sheet device, and I prefer to use the same counting devicefor controlling the present kick sheet device, although it will beunderstood that as far as the present invention is concerned it is notlimited to use in combination with this type of counting device.

For convenience I have illustrated only such parts of the countingdevice as are necessary to show its relation and application incombination with the present kick sheet device. For instance, I haveillustrated what I termed in said co-pending application a sled,consisting in part of parallel runners 31 which are carried on swinginglever arms 32 to which the sled is pivotally connected at 33.

These arms are pivoted on the shaft 34 so that the sled and the arms mayrock from the shaft 34 in order that the sled may rest against the undersurfaces of the papers as they travel along the conveyor and follow anyirregularities of the papers. The levers of which the arms 32 form partare shown as provided with arms 35 extending on the opposite side oftheshaft 34 and they are connected with each other by a counterbalancingweight 36 which is sufficiently heavy to cause the sled to be pressedlightly against the under side of the travelling papers. The sled isprovided with two feeler fingers 37, 38 which co-operate and pressagainst the travelling papers. I have shown a series of foldednewspapers 39 arranged in overlapping position and travelling with theconveyor belts 4 in the manner in which papers are usually conveyed onthis type of conveyor. The feeler fingers 37, 38 are so arranged thatthe folded edges 40 of the successive papers disengage from the feelerfingers slightly in advance of one another so that temporarily the endsof the fingers are held in different planes and this causes the contactmembers on the sled to close an electric circuit which includes the twowires 41, 42 all as shown and described more in detail in my saidco-pending application. Each time a paper passes the feeler fingers 37,38 the counting device illustrated in my said application effects astep-by-step movement of a count-indicating device and when a givennumber of papers have passed the feelers, say fifty or one hundred,according to the designing of the parts, the kick sheet device will beoperated.

The crank disk 18 is loosely mounted on the shaft '7 and a clutch isinterposed between the shaft and the crank disk so that the latter iscaused to revolve with the shaft when the kick sheet device is initiatedunder the control of the counting device, the crank disk at other times.remaining stationary although the shaft '7 revolves continuously. In mycopending application Serial No. 506,910 and filed January 6, 1931.

I have shown and described a complete clutch device which may be, andpreferably is utilized to establish operative connection. between theshaft 7 and the crank disk 18 periodically and to disconnect the clutchdisk after each complete operation of the kick sheet device. In thepresent case I have shown a portion of the clutch device illustrated inmy co-p'ending application sufiicient to show the relationship of theclutch device with the kick sheet device. For instance, I haveillustrated a coiled spring 43 which is mounted to surround the bushing44 which is mounted on and revolvable with the shaft 7 one end of thecoiled spring having a loop 45 which is engaged with the pin 46 carriedby the member 47 which is fixed to the crank disk 18. The coiled springis mounted Within a sleeve 48 which surrounds the spring and limits theexpansion of the individual coils thereof to distribute the expansiveaction of the spring throughout the several convolutions, all asdescribed in my said last mentioned application. The free or unattachedend of the coiled spring has a finger 49 projecting through the sleeve48 so that it revolves in a path which is adapted to be intercepted byan armature 50 pivoted on the pin 51 and mounted on a bracket 52 whichis clamped on the cross bar 12.

When the end of this armature is interposed in the path of the finger49, as shown in Figure 2, the coiled spring is subjected to tortionalaction which tends to open the spring or expand it so that it releasesits grip upon the bushing 44 and at such times the crank disk remainsstationary because it is out of driving relation with the shaft 7. Whenthe armature 50 is drawn over by the electromagnet 53 it moves out ofthe path of the finger 49 whereupon the coiled spring 43 contracts andengages frictionally with the bushing 44, thereby establishing aclutching engagement between the shaft '7 and the crank disk 18,whereupon the latter will revolve with the shaft and continue until suchtime as the armature is again interposed into the path of the finger 49which will occur when the magnet 53 is deenergized. In the constructionas illustrated, the armature is withdrawn from the finger 49 long enoughto permit the crank disk to be revolved one revolution and then thearmature reengages the finger 49 and causes the spring clutch to releaseand disengage the crank disk from operative relation with the shaft 7.other words, the crank disk is caused to make one revolution each timethe magnet 53 is energized. It will be understood that all of the partsof the clutch device described in my application Serial No. 506,910 maybe used in the present combination and reference to that applicationwill disclose such details of the clutch as are not specificallymentioned herein.

I provide means on the reciprocating carriage 27 for engaging anindividual paper in order to shift the same and cause the displacementof the paper so engaged with relation to the other papers on theconveyor to produce what is called a kick sheet.

On the carriage there is pivotally mounted on the stud 54 an arm 55which on its forward, free end is provided with a fork 56 which isadapted to engage one edge 40 of a paper on the conveyor as illustratedin Figure 4, the two arms of the fork 56 straddling the paper and thetop or yoke of the fork pressing against the folded edge thereof. Thelever arm 55 is urged upwardly by a coiled spring 57 which is mounted ina spring cup 58 on the carriage, the upper end of the spring beingguided by a pin 59 on the lever arm 55. This spring, therefore, providesa resistable upward pressure against the lever arm 55 to retain the fork56 pressed against the layer of papers travelling on the conveyor. Theextreme upward thrust of the lever arm 55 is limited by means of thestop screw on the carriage which limits the downward movement of a shortarm 61 which is attached to or integral with the lever arm 55 so that ifthere is an interruption in the line of papers on the conveyor the arm55 will not swing upwardly beyond the point permitted by the stop screw60.

In Figure 8 I have illustrated, diagrammatically, the electric circuitthrough which the counting device controls the operation of the kicksheet device and this circuit corresponds with the one illustrated in myfirst mentioned copending application. For instance, the two wires 41.,42 connected with binding posts on the sled correspond with similarwires in said co-pending case. She of these, 42, indicated as negative,merely by way of distinguishing it from other wires, is adapted to beconnected with one side of the source of current. The other wire 41which is connected with the sled a branch 62 which leads to the coils ofthe electromagnet 63.

The other wire, 64 connected with the opposite side of the coils of thismagnet runs to one of the binding posts adjacent the electromagnet 53which controls or actuates the armature 50 that initiates the operationof the clutch device by means of which the crank disk 18 is thrown intooperative relation with the shaft '7. There is a wire 65 connected withthe wire 64 and this is indicated by a positive sign nerely way ofdistinguishing from the wire 42 and it is also connected with one sideof the source of current. The wii 4:1 which runs from the sled isconnected with one member 66 of a contact device which is controlled bya pin 67 on the revolving gear 68 the same as in my co-pendingapplication. The wire 69 which is connected with one of the bin ng postsnear the magnet 53 is connected with the contact member 70 whichco-operates with the member 66 to close a circuit including wires il,69, this member being actuated by the pin 67 on the gear 68 to establishconnection between the two members 66, 70 all as illustrated anddescribed in my co-pending application.

I will be apparent that the electrical circuits are the same as in mysaid oo-pending application except that the two wires 69, 64 are con- 11a with the electroinagnet 53 which controls the clutch, instead of beingconnected with the members illustrated in the co-pending case.

Operation It may be assumed merely by way of example that the countingdevice closes an electric circuit which includes the magnet 53 as eachfiftieth paper passes the feelers 37, 38 in which case every fiftiethpaper will be kicked.

It will be understood that the device may be set to operate at every onehundredth paper or any other predete mined number, but I will continuethe description as if adjusted for each fifti eth paper. "if thecounting device illustrated in my mentioned co-pending application isused conjunction with the present device, then as the rear end of eachpaper on the conveyor passes the feelers a step'bystep movement of thecounting device is caused to indicate the count of the papers, but thecounting of the papers is not necessary to the operation of my presentinvention. In the example described, as the fiftieth paper moving withthe conveyor passes the feelers, a circuit is closed through the actionof the pin 6'7 on the gear wheel 68 pressing the contact member '70upwardly which causes current to pass through the wire 64 and alsothrough the wire 69 to energize the electromagnet 53. If the conveyor isin operation as is assumed in the present description, the shaft '7 iscontinually revolving and its speed of operation will be in synchronismwith the speed of operation of the conveyor because it is operatedthrough the chain 5 which operates the conveyor. When the magnet 53 isenergized in the manner thus described it will attract the armature 50,removing it from the path of the tongue 49 and the coiled spring 43 willcontract to engage the sleeve 44 on the shaft '7. As soon as this occursthe clutch is efiective and the crank disk 18 will revolve with theshaft 7. Usually it will make one revolution during the time thearmatuie 50 is held over by the magnet 53 and when this magnet isdeenergized, before the crank disk has made one complete revolution thearmature will fall into the path of the tongue 49 so that when the crankdisk has made one revolution the tongue 49 will be resisted by thearmature.

This causes the coils of the clutch spring to expand or open, therebyreleasing the clutching engagement between the shaft '7 and the crankdisk 18 so that the latter will stop after one revolution, in the sameposition from which it started.

Before the crank disk starts to revolve, which will be the condition atall times except the period following the passage of the fiftieth paperpast the feelers, the carriage 27 will he in the position shown inFigure l, which is its extreme rearward position. As the crank diskstarts its revolution it will act through the pitrnan 19 to reciprocatethe lever 20 from its fulcrum 21. Ro-

tation of the crank disk will cause the lever arm 20 to move to theright in Figure 1, so that the carriage 2'7 reciprocates from left toright along the cars 25, 26. As the fork 56, of the arm 55 now engagesor overlaps the folded edge of one of the papers on the conveyor, thenas the carriage goes forwardly or toward the right in Figure 1, the forkpushes on the paper which it engages and causes it to be shifted orturned diagonally, as illustrated in dotted lines at 76 in Figure 1, tothrow this paper out of alignment or displace it in relation to theother papers on the conveyor, thus producing what is known as a kicksheet.

This sheet will travel in this displaced condition L until the papersare delivered on the table in the distributing room so that the operatorthere may know that fifty papers are delivered between successive kicksheets.

It will he noted that the arm 55 which carries pitrnan 19 is connectedto the lever arm 20 nearer the fulcrum 21 than the fork 28 whichoperates the carriage, therefore this fork moves a greater distance thanthe pitman 19. If the pitman makes its stroke at about the same speedthat the papers travel on the conveyor, then the fork 28, and likewisethe carriage, will, with the proportions shown in Figure 1, travel twiceas far as the papers in a given time and twice as fast. As the fork onthe arm 55 is engaged with one of the papers, it will go forward in thesame direction the papers are travelling with the conveyor, but at afaster speed, and therefore cause the paper which is engaged to beturned to the dotted line position of Figure 1. By varying the leverageon the lever arm, 20, i. e. by varying the point at which the pitman 19is pivotally connected with this lever arm, the thrust of the carriagemay be increased or decreased as desired, without changing thesynchronizing of the operation of the pitman in relation to the speed ofthe conveyor.

It will be noted that if the conveyor moves fast the pitman 19 will moveat 2. corresponding speed, and likewise the carriage 27 will move fasteror slower, corresponding with the speed at which the papers travel onthe conveyor.

However, the distance travelled by the carriage at each stroke will bearthe same relation to the distance travelled by the papers at the sametime regardless of the speed the papers are travelling on the conveyor.This is due to the fact that the kick sheet device is operated by thesame source of power as the conveyor so that when one is speeded up orretarded the speed of the other is changed accordingly. This isdesirable in order that the fork of the arm 55 will be in correctposition to engage a particular paper immediately following the actionof this paper upon the feelers.

When the carriage has completed its movement to the right in Figure 1 itthen proceeds to move back to the position shown in this figure, atwhich time the armature 50 is interposed in the path of the finger 49 sothat the clutch is released to disengage the crank disk from the shaft,thereby leaving the carriage in the position shown in Figure 1, readyfor a succeeding operation. When the fiftieth paper again passes thefeelers, the above described operations Will be repeated. During thereturn stroke of the carriage, or from right to left in Figure 1, thearm 55 simply slides against the papers, being held in contact with themby the spring 57. It will be apparent that the present apparatus is verysimple both in construction and in operation and it is a very simplematter to take the operating force for the kick sheet device from theconveyor operating mechanism; and it will also be apparent that the kicksheet device may be applied in any position on the conveyor. The onlyconnection between the kick sheet device and the count indicatingdevice, which latter may be disposed. at a remote position in relationto the kick sheet device, is the electric wiring.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination of means for conveying ar ticles in overlappingrelation, means for acting on certain of the articles while travellingwith said conveyor to displace them in relation to others of saidarticles to indicate a count of said articles, means controlled by thearticles on said conveyor for effecting the operation of said secondmeans, and means for driving said conveying means and said second meansin synchronism with each other.

2. The combination of means for conveying articles in overlappingrelation, means for acting on certain of the articles travelling withsaid conveyor to displace them in relation to others of said articles toindicate a count of said articles, means controlled by the articles onsaid conveyor for effecting the operation of said second means, drivingmeans for said conveying means, and means operated by said conveyordriving means, and adapted to propel said second mentioned means insynchronism with the operation of said conveying means.

3. The combination of means for conveying articles in overlappingrelation, means for acting on certain of said articles travelling withsaid conveyor to displace them in relation to others of said articlesfor the purpose of indicating a count of the articles, means controlledby the articles on the conveyor for effecting the operation of saidsecond means, means for driving said conveying means including a chain,and means operated by said chain for supplying power to operate saidsecond mentioned means in synchronism with the operation of theconveying means.

4. The combination of means for conveying articles in overlappingrelation, means for engaging certain of the articles travelling on saidconveyor and adapted to reciprocate for the purpose of displacing thearticles engaged in relation to the other articles on said conveyor forthe purpose of indicating a count of said articles, means controlled bythe articles on said conveyor for effecting the operation of saidarticle engaging means, and means for driving said conveying means andsaid article engaging means in synchronism with each other.

5. The combination of means for conveying articles in overlappingrelation, means reciprocating in the direction of travel of saidconveying means for acting on some of the articles travelling with saidconveyor and adapted to shift the articles engaged thereby to indicate acount of the articles, means controlled by the articles on the conveyorfor controlling the operat'on of said second means, and means forreciprocating said article engaging means in synchronism with saidconveying means.

6. The combination of means for conveying articles, reciprocating meansfor engaging certain of the articles travelling with said conveyor andadapted to displace the articles engaged, in relation to. the others toindicate a count of the articles, means controlled by the articles onthe conveyor for controlling the operation of said article engagingmeans, and means for driving said conveying means and said articleengaging means in synchronism with each other and adapted to operatesaid article engaging means at a faster speed than the conveying meanswhile travelling in the same direction therewith.

- 7. The combination of means for conveying articles in overlappingrelation, means reciprocating in the direction of travel of saidconveying means and adapted to engage certain of the articles travellingwith the conveyor and to displace the articles engaged in relation tothe other articles on the conveyor to indicate a count of the articles,said engaging means operating at one side of the median line of saidarticles, means controlled by the articles on the conveyor forcontrolling the operation of said article engaging means, and means fordriving said conveying means and said article engaging means insynchronism with each other.

8. The combination of means. for conveying articles, a reciprocatingcarriage, means for guiding the same to reciprocate in the direction ofmovement of said conveyor, means for reciprocating said carriage and foroperating said conveyor in synchronisrn with each other and meanscontrolled by the articles on the conveyor for causing the operation ofsaid carriage.

9. The combination of means for conveying articles, a reciprocatingmember moving in the d'rection of travel of said conveyor and havingmeans for engaging an article on the conveyor to shift the same inrelation to the other articles for indicating a count of the articles,means for reciprocating said reciprocating means, including a crank, andmeans controlled by the articles on the conveyor for controlling theoperation of said reciprocating means.

10. The combination of means for conveying articles, reciprocating meanshaving means for engaging an article on the conveyor for the purpose ofshifting the article engaged in relation to the other articles on theconveyor, means for operating said reciprocating means including acrank, a lever operated thereby and adapted to cause the operation ofsaid reciprocating means at a greater speed than the articles travellingon said conveyor, and means controlled by the articles on the conveyorfor initiating the operation of said reciprocating means.

11. The combination of means for conveying articles, means reciprocatingin the direction of travel of said conveyor and having means forengaging an article on the conveyor while travelling in the samedirection with said article and adapted to shift the article engaged inrelation to the other articles on the conveyor to indicate a count,means for operating said reciprocating means including a crank operatedin synchronism with the operation of the conveying means, a leveroperated by said crank and adapted to cause the operation of saidreciprocating means at a greater speed than the articles on theconveyor, and means controlled by the articles on the conveyor forcausing the actuation of said reciprocating means.

12. The combination of means for conveying papers in overlappingrelation, reciprocating means moving in the direction of travel of saidconveyor and having a pivoted member provided with a fork for engagingan edge of a paper on said conveyor, means for operating saidreciprocating means, and means controlled by the papers on said conveyorfor initiating the operation of said reciprocating means to cause thelatter to shift the paper engaged, in relation to the others on theconveyor, for the purpose of indicating a count of said papers.

13. The combination of a conveyor adapted to convey papers inoverlapping relation, a reciprocating carriage, moving in the directionof travel of said conveyor a member pivotally mounted on said carriageand having a fork adapted to engage the edge of a paper whenreciprocating in one direction and to disengage therefrom whentravelling in the opposite directon, means for reciprocating saidcarriage to cause the shifting of a paper engaged by said fork, inrelation to the other papers on the conveyor, for indicating a count ofthe papers, and means controlled by the papers on the conveyor forinitiating the operation of said carriage.

14. The combination of a conveyor for conveying papers in overlappingrelation, a reciprocating carriage, an 'arm pivotally mounted thereonand having a fork adapted to engage the edge of a paper on said conveyorwhile reciprocating in one direction and to disengage therefrom whiletravelling in the opposite direction, means for causing said arm topress toward the travelling papers, means for reciprocating saidcarriage at a faster speed than the travel of said papers to cause thepaper engaged, to be shifted in relation to the other papers on saidconveyor, and means for initiating the operation of said carriage.

15. The combination of a conveyor for conveying articles, reciprocatingmeans for engaging an article on the conveyor to shift the same inrelation to the other articles for the purpose of indicating a count andmeans for operating said reciprocating means, including a shaft, a crankdevice operated thereby, a clutch interposed between said shaft and saidcrank device to effect an operative connection between them, and meanscontrolled by the articles on said conveyor for initiating the operationof said clutch.

16. The combination of a conveyor for conveying articles, reciprocatingmeans for engaging an article on the conveyor to shift the same inrelation to the other articles for the purpose of indicating a count andmeans for operating said reciprocating means, including a shaft andmeans operated thereby, and a clutch interposed be tween said lattermeans and said shaft and composed of a coiled spring surrounding saidshaft and having one end connected with said operating means, means forcontrolling said spring whereby the latter will grip or be released fromsaid shaft to control the coupling of said shaft with said operatingmeans, and means controlled by the articles on the conveyor foractuating said spring controlling means.

17. The combination of a conveyor for conveying articles, areciprocating carriage having a track for guiding the carriage in thedrection of the conveyor, a lever having a stationary ful crum andoperatively connected to reciprocate said carriage, a crank having apitman connected with said lever at a point nearer its fulcrum than thepoint of connection of said lever with the carriage, whereby themovement of the carriage will be greater than the movement of saidpitman, a continuously operating shaft for operating said crank, aclutch for establishing operative connection between said shaft and saidcrank, and means controlled by the articles on said conveyor foractuating said clutch.

HENRY C. ZENKE.

